2026 Gambling Trip Reports

Day 3B

Walked to Cosmo for STK happy hour at the bar. Ordered 3 dishes. Beet and burrata was very good, as was the ceviche. The Chilean sea bass was a joke. I was expected something better for $14 but it was tiny. Like comically small. Maybe 1/4 oz of fish on a piece of lettuce (2 pieces but still). It would have been a rip off at $7. For $14 it was awful.

Walked back to PH. $15 craps. One guy hit 3 points and then I hit at least 6 points, maybe 7. For the most part just PL and odds. $18 8 at one point as well. Gave back some on the next few shooters. Cashed out up $400.

Rest of day 3

Played some 9/5 JOB. Nothing notable. I was still hungry after the disappointing STK meal. Ended up back at Panda Express. This time in the mall next to planet Hollywood. That was great. Played some more craps and won $100.

I was at PH today because I had a ticket to zombie burlesque. To be frank, I wouldn’t recommend it. Maybe 50% of it was entertaining but there was a massive amount of filler focused on one cast member who I found grating and unlikable. I have no idea why you’d hand over half your show to someone so unlikable but that’s what zombie burlesque does. There’s also a lot of crowd work. I don’t like that but maybe others don’t mind it as much. The main host was quick witted and well prepared but his presentation style was also not my style. Anyway the ticket was only $40 or so so I can’t really complain.

Walked back to o’sheas. $5 UTH. Started off down $80 and ended up plus $50. Nothing too notable. Got two frozen baileys. Guy next to me asked for one and was turned down because he wasn’t diamond. Dealer missed a flush but the player caught her. Dealer was also flashing her cards a lot. Every hand. She wasn’t using the technique every other dealer has been using to protect their hard. I could reliably tell “paint, many pips, or few pips” for one of her down cards. Someone more accustomed to these things could absolutely do better.

Back to the room and did a count. Currently UP by $1,023. Today was a very good day from a gambling perspective

Day 4A

Day started out quietly. Lost $50 at UTH. Walked to Venetian and won $20 at JOB. Back to Harrahs. Lost $250 at craps then won back $150 at PGP. Then it was time for a slot tournament. I had a free entry. It went fine. Found out later I did not cash. I was hungry at this point and wanted to use 2:1 coupon at Ellis island. Didnt feel like walking so ubered there. Got chicken and mushroom dish (excellent—really good with spinach and blue cheese over rice pilaf) and a patty melt (fine but wouldn’t order it again ). Lost $10 matchplay. Won $5 on free slot play.

Played $5 craps. The table layout at Ellis Island is odd. It is all boxes with tiny font. Half of the space is empty and the rest is crammed. I’ve never seen anything like it. Each betting area is the height of a chip—pass, DP, field, come, DC. Each is literally the height of a chip and each person has a designated betting section in front of them. The dealers have numbered spots for every single possible place bet, come back, hard ways, etc etc. There was a group of 4 friends. All women in their 50s and 60s. They didn’t seem drunk but one was especially annoying. Never doing anything actually wrong but doing things like asking the dealers if they know what a Yo is and going on and on about things she read about craps. One of the dealers was humoring her, another dealer hated her and was insulting her but she didn’t realize it. At one point I was next to the stick. She was next to me, shoulder to shoulder. Then asked me to move over so her friend could squeeze in. There was literally nowhere to go. The base dealer told her friend to go to the completely empty space next to base. It’s hard to explain how oblivious she was. It was like she was trolling but I think that’s just her personality. At one point she argued over a $5 bet. Said it was on the Don’t. Dealers said it was on the PL. eventually the floor wanted to move things along and said to just pay it. I started off down $90 and ended up leaving the table up like $5.

Rest of day 4

Ubered to Palms. Had a $10 and $25 matchplay from LVA. Won the $10 but lost the $25. I don’t know if other people do this but I always play the lower denom match play first.

They have 8/5 BP so I played that for quarters. That went horribly. Never had a 4OAK. Lost $160 pretty quickly.

Uber to Caesar’s. Because of F1 the drop off spot is in the garage. Went to play $25 craps. Went fine. Won $90 total. There was an issue with one guy. He was maybe 6’5” and had a huge backpack and a soccer ball for some reason. He would throw the dice very high (well above the level) and they went off the table maybe 6 times. He seemed very high. Box asks him to throw the dice lower. He does not. Stick starts chastising him to throw lower. Guy starts complaining. He eventually 7’d out and left the table.

At this point I was about to leave but there was a space open at the crapless table. I’m glad I stayed. Won $500 at crapless betting 2/12. Nothing too notable there. There was a couple chain smoking and making $50 ATS bets. $270 across for both. They were also making $5 PL bets for the dealers with $5 odds each so the dealers let them get away with a lot. For example, the wife wanted to stand to the right of her husband but shoot the dice after him for some reason. So that would skip her, he would roll and then she would roll out of order and then the standard order would begin again. They went through several thousand each

Walked to in n out. Had 2 burgers and called it a night.

I think my net today was something like up $450 or so. Managed to churn a little over 1,000 tier credits.

Quote: TinMan

Rest of day 3


I was at PH today because I had a ticket to zombie burlesque. To be frank, I wouldn’t recommend it. Maybe 50% of it was entertaining but there was a massive amount of filler focused on one cast member who I found grating and unlikable. I have no idea why you’d hand over half your show to someone so unlikable but that’s what zombie burlesque does. There’s also a lot of crowd work. I don’t like that but maybe others don’t mind it as much. The main host was quick witted and well prepared but his presentation style was also not my style. Anyway the ticket was only $40 or so so I can’t really complain.

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Have you seen the Beetlejuice musical? When I saw Zombie Burlesque, I felt like the main host was channeling that character.

I remember some of the show being cringe, but my bar for that is pretty low after having seen “Crazy Girls” in the ‘90s.

Day 5A

Won $20 at UTH. Walked to Bellagio and ate at the buffet. It’s not cheap but midweek brunch isn’t outrageous. The quality was better than the last time I was there a few years ago. Prime rib, sautéed vegetables and pasta were especially good. Desserts were not as good as I remembered.

Walked to Horseshoe. Lost a few dollars at VP. Then lost $200 at crapless. Picked up $10 at 3CP. I had an entry for 1pm BJ tournament but don’t realize you have to get a separate voucher so they bumped me to 4pm. Now going to kill time somewhere between horsehoe, Paris and PH.